Improved car-coupling



J. H. PARSONS- I Car Coupling.

.No. 52,592. Y v PatentedFeb. 13,1866,

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I? jiweafir I 1 V v V I NrrEn STATES ATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVED CAR-COUPLING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52,592, dated February13, 1866.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JOHN H. PARSONS, ot' Quincy, in the county of Branchand State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement inCoupling Railroad-(Jars; and I do hereby declare that the following isafull, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable thoseskilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a perspective view. Fig. 2 is a sectional view through theline w 00. Figs. 3 and 4 are detached and sectional views.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of my invention is to furnish a car-coupling by means ofwhich cars may be coupled without the aid of any person and avoid therisk and danger to such person while coupling cars in the ordinarymanner; and it consists of a cast-iron draw-head fastened in theordinary manner to the ear-frame. Near the out end of the draw-head Iprovide an iron frame or rack made to slide up and down in grooves cutin the sides of draw-head for this purpose. To the upper cross rod orbolt of this rack I attach the pin for coupling, and to the bottom crossrod or bolt I attach a pin formed with a lip at the upper end, made tocatch on the edge of the hole through which it plays by means of a steelspring pressing against it, the whole to be operated by the link orshackle hereinafter more fully described.

I make the draw-head A, Fig. 1, of castiron, not varying materially fromthose in common use, except that just immediately back of thecoupling-pin hole on the bottom I make a second hole or oblong openingslanting inward, so that the inside surface of the hole is longer thanthe outside, and resembles very much the letter V, except that the frontside of said hole is straight, the slant being on the back side. I alsomake the drawhead thicker at this point 011 the bottom by an oval-shapedrising resembling the half of a ball, through which the second hole oropen ing is made, heretofore described, and as shown in Fig. 2, and withsufficient flare at the opening B that the link may be sure to enter andslide in with ease.

The bars H and G of the rack or frame are made of round or half-roundiron, so that they may slide freely in the grooves cut in each side ofthe draw-head, as shown at (1, Fig. 1. These bars are made as shown inFig. 3, the lower end being bent inward or directly under the draw-head,about one third the width of the draw-head, thence back at right angles,leaving the ends in line with the second hole, as shown on bottom ofdraw-bar. The upper ends of the bars H and G are connected by the roundiron rod or bolt E, Fig. 1, there being a shoulder turned on each end ofthis rod, also a screw-thread cut with a nut, the ends passing throughthe bars H and Gr, which are held firmly by the said screw and nut. TheboltE also passes through the pin D, the hole in the pin being madelarge enough that it may play freely on the bolt, and is kept fromsliding sidewise on the bolt by means of two small keys, one each sideof the pin, passing through the bolt. In like manner the lower ends ofthe bars H and G are secured and held in their proper place by the shortbolt which passes through the catch-pin 3 Fig. 3. This short bolt ismade just long enough between its two shoulders to give the pin 1 freeand easy play. The pin y is constructed as represented in Fig. 2, thetop of said pin being beveled off, forming an inclined plane, so thatthe foot of the plane is in line with the bottom of the inside ofdraw-head. The front of the pin is made to project enough to form a lipor catch, as shown.

The link isconstructed as shown in Fig. 4, the ends being made solid ashort distance inward, so that the pin will keep the link far enough inthe draw-bar that the out end may not fall too low to enter an otherdraw-bar, and also serves to strengthen the link.

To more fully explain the object of my invention and operation of thesame, reference is madeto Fig. 2, showing an inside sectional viewthrough the line as :10.

Let B represent the flareof the draw-head; D, the couplin g-pin y, thelower or catch pin. In order to couple two cars, supposing the link K(the right -hand end) to rest in the draw-head of another car, then bymoving the link or car toward the draw-head A the link enters at B,rises on the flare, and after passing the coupling-pin hole 0 strikesthe top of rack or frame up, causing the pin y to catch on the edge ofthe hole by means of a steel sprin gpressin g against the back of pin 3Said spring is represented by the small red line at m, and is fastenedand held in its place by a nut-screw or its equivalent at the point n.The top of the pin being beveled off, as shown at y, allows the link toslide out over it, un-

coupling the cars, and leaving it again ready to couple when the linkcomes in contact with the pin at y.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The arrangementof the draw-head A, with its second V-shaped hole or opening on thebottom, the grooves 01 d, in connection with the pin, sustaining-bars HG, and rods E F, substantially as shown and described.

2. The arrangement of the'top beveled pin or catch y and the spring m,substantially as described and set forth.

J. H. PARSONS Witnesses G. N. WILGOX, "L. JAY OARREL.

